Motherly Instinct
by Tofu-Monstrosity
Summary: Jennifer Sheppard likes to forget about her wild college days. But a certain forensic scientist keeps reminding her of those days, and for a good reason. Some instincts don't go away.
1. Motherly Instinct

**Little plot bunny floating around for a while. Just a "what if?" story.**

**Disclaimer: disclaiming any ownership.**

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"You wanted to see me Madame Director?" The tall black-haired green eyed woman peeks into the director's office at NCIS. The fiery red head with matching green eyes stared at her.

"Yes." She snaps. Reluctantly the young woman slinks into the office of the director of NCIS. The young woman was wearing something that was far from work appropriate, thick combat boots, a short skirt and heavy dog collars around her neck would have anyone question the authority of director sitting behind the desk. But this was not what 27-year-old Abigail Scutio was in the director's office for. Jennifer Sheppard, director of NCIS stared the forensic lab technician in the face.

"Abby," She started to say, not using the goth's full name because she never liked it. "What you did was entirely unacceptable." She scolded.

"But those puppies needed a home and my landlord hates dogs and I couldn't keep them anywhere…" Abby started to defend herself.

"No, Abby, you cannot keep wild animals in the facility!" Jen snapped at the forensic scientist.

"But what about…" Abby started to say.

"No! I know I've let Jethro the dog in once, but that was because he was a part of our investigation! You have no right to bring in animals to NCIS. We're not a zoo!" Jen yelled. She stood behind her desk so that she was towering over Abby who was sitting down in the chair. "This kind of behavior is not tolerated at all in NCIS" Jen rebuked, "This is the last time and I have to suspend you until further notice." Abby was silent as her jaw fell.

"You can't be serious…" Abby started to say.

"I am. Abigail Scutio, you are hereby suspended from NCIS for a week." Jen sat back down in her chair, not to be defeated. Abby stood up defiantly and stormed out of the room. Jen waited until her door was slammed shut before she fell forward upon her desk, she held her head in her hands holding back so many emotions that flooded through her as memories drifted in like the Potomac river.

"Shit!" the young woman yelled as she read the little stick. The little pink positive sign stared at her like a demon. It was the fifth one this morning. There was now no doubt she was pregnant. She walks out of the bathroom with the stick in her hand and looks at her roommate.

"Positive?" Her college roommate asks. The young woman nods and bites her bottom lip. "Well Jen, it looks like you're going to be a mother." The tall blonde haired blue eyed young woman shrugs. Jen sets her jade green eyes to her roommate in a death glare. "I wasn't the one who slept with Nick…" The roommate shrugged.

"Zip it Kathy." Jen snaps. She sits on her bed terribly awestruck. "What am I going to do?"

"Well, decide if you'll keep it or just off it." The roommate, Kathy throws her blonde locks over her shoulder.

"I can't keep it! And I hate abortion clinics." Jen states.

"What will you do then? Keep it under your bed? It's a baby Jen!" Kathy yelled to her as if she didn't already know.

"I'll just put it up for adoption. That way when it's done I won't see it again and it'll be like it never happened!" Jen crosses her arms in triumph.

"So, you're not going to tell Nick…?" Kathy asks.

"Nope. What he doesn't know can't hurt him." Jen says.

"Whatever you say Jen," Kathy looks skeptically at her roommate. "Are we still on to all go to dinner? Me, you, Nick, and Kevin." Kathy squealed.

"Is Kevin your new boyfriend?" Jen asks rolling her eyes.

"Yes. We met yesterday at the mall." Kathy states. Jen didn't want to bring up the fact that Kathy is a serial dater and goes through boyfriends like she goes through shoes, a lot and often.

They all meet at this nice Italian restaurant in town just outside of campus. It was a Saturday and the restaurant was pretty busy but they got a seat. Jen sat down next to her boyfriend, Nick. He was tall and had black spiky hair and had piercings all over his body and enough tattoo ink to write a thesis paper. His deep blue eyes captivated Jen.

"Everyone, this is Kevin" Kathy introduced her new boyfriend to Jen and Nick. The young man looked familiar to Jen, she's sure she's seen him around campus. While waiting for their meal they made a little small talk.

"How did you two meet?" Nick asks Kathy and Kevin.

"We were looking for the newest designer shoes" Kevin said. "And we ran into each other! Isn't that so weird!" Kevin answered. Both Jen and Nick nodded, not having the heart to tell Kathy that Kevin was obviously gay.

After the meals arrived the conversation turned to talk about Kathy's aunt who has 5 kids with a 6th on the way.

"…So she gets huge and nasty in her third trimester…I hope you don't act like that Jen, it's terrible..." Kathy said slipping a meatball into her mouth.

"Why would Jen act like that?" Nick asks, looking over to his girlfriend. Jen knew the jig was up as Kathy nearly chocked on her food.

"Oops, I forgot you weren't going to tell him…" Kathy blushed.

"Tell me what Jen?" Nick looked pissed.

"That I'm….I'm pregnant…" Jen stammered. Nick's eyes went wide, "It's yours" She mutters. "You bitch" He yells before storming out of the restaurant.

He broke up with her the next day, blaming her for the pregnancy and saying that if she were on the pill none of it would've happened.

Jen cried for hours after that. She vowed not to tell anyone else about the baby.

So a few weeks later she was looking on the internet through adoption agencies and looking for a couple to give the baby to. No one seemed to catch her interest until she saw the profile for a young couple.

They tried to have kids of their own but couldn't. They were both deaf since birth and wanted a child of hearing to enjoy the things they could not. They were from New Orleans and their picture wasn't cheesy like the others, they looked genuinely happy. Jen decided to set up an appointment with the Scutio family over her spring break.

By Spring Break she was already in maternity clothing. She was about 4 months along and made the flight to New Orleans from Virginia. She studies business and that required her to learn foreign languages and American Sign Language, so she could easily communicate with the Scutio family. They picked her up at the airport and drove her home.

"_You are Jennifer Sheppard correct?" _The woman signed. Jen smiled and tilted her hand yes. The woman's face lit up. _"That is wonderful, I am Grace, and this is David" _She signed, gesturing to her husband who drove the car.

"_Nice to meet you both"_ Jen signed back just as David Scutio pulled the station wagon into the driveway of the bungalow style house just outside of the city limits. Their house was small and cozy. Grace gestured for Jen to sit on the couch. Jen obliged as David sat down in a Lazy boy while Grace got them all drinks and a chair for herself.

"_Please tell us, why did you choose us?" _David asked.

"_I thought you two would make great parents" _Jen smiled as she signed back, Grace's hand flew to her heart as she was so grateful.

"_I cannot say how much this means to us."_ Grace signed.

"_Don't worry about it." _Jen signed back. _"Is there anything you particularly want?" _

"_Could we get copies of the ultrasound pictures?" _David asked. Jen nodded in the affirmative.

"_I'd be happy to send you anything you want"_ Jen responded.

"_Can we ask one more thing of you?" _Grace asks a pleading look on her face. _"Do you know the sex of the baby?"_

"_It's a girl"_ Jen signed back, Grace and David looked at each other and smiled.

"_Really is there anything at all we can do for you?" _Grace signed to Jen. Jen was about to shrug it off saying nothing but a thought came to her head.

"_One thing. Just please; please don't tell her who I am. I don't want her to know that I'm her biological mother." _Jen pleaded and the Scutios nodded in agreement.

Months pass by and Jen gets sick every morning. She was just at the start of her senior year in college and she was bloated like a blimp. She took classes to catch up on the work she missed with various doctors' appointments. Now it was September and Jen was on bed rest.

Jen flipped through magazines late one night while her roommate slept. Jen hadn't been sleeping right for the past few weeks. She suddenly felt something strange. She sat up to see that her water broke.

"Kathy!" Jen yelled at her roommate who before the intrusion, was sleeping soundly.

"What?" She whined and threw the pillow over her head, trying to ignore her roommate.

"The baby's coming!" Jen screamed and Kathy sprang to life.

"Alright we're taking my car!" Kathy helped Jen up, whose contractions were getting worse and worse, and they both stumbled out of the dorms and to Kathy's beat up convertible. She sped to the hospital faster than a cheetah out of a frying pan. Jen was screaming in pain as she entered through the hospital doors. The doctors immediately got her a room and prepared for the baby.

It was 4 hours of intense labor before doctors gave her the order to push. Jen pushed as hard as she could, trying so hard to get this over with.

"Oh Shit!" Jen screamed one last time as a soft crying filled the room. Immediately doctors whisked the baby away to prepare it for adoption and contact the parents. Jen recovered fine after she got the news the Scutios were on their way now to get their baby girl.

There was a letter that followed a week later informing Jen that the baby was fine and healthy in their care and they thanked her profusely. They even mentioned the name of the girl. Abigail Grace Scutio.

Jen still keeps that letter hidden in a safety deposit box in the city. She would not want any one to find that letter. So now, she sits in her office keeping an eye on the forensic scientist, she can't help her motherly instinct.


	2. Beauty of it

**So, by mistake I accidentally didn't press the "Complete" button when uploading this story. So I got PM's saying how I need to continue. When a fan demands it, I supply. So here is the second chapter of "Motherly instinct" I'm looking at one more chapter before I press the "complete" button ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Does anyone really read these anymore?**

Director Jennifer Sheppard rubs her head as she hears the sure-footed steps of one special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He doesn't knock; he just bursts through the door. Jen is waiting for him. For if there was anybody Abby would go to if she had a problem, it would be Jethro.

"Jen, what the hell did you do?" Jethro demands as he stares at his former partner. "Abby rushes to me saying you suspended her for no reason"

"Like hell I did. Jethro." Jen snaps back. "Did you know she brought stray puppies into her lab? That is government property." Jen reminds Jethro.

"She neglected to tell me that." Jethro states. Jen sits back down in her chair; she didn't realize she stood up.

"I had no choice but to suspend her." Jen leans back in the chair.

"You know if she was anyone else, you would've fired her without a second thought" Jethro states. A defeated look comes across Jen's face.

"I know." She admits.

"Jen, you can't go on like this." Jethro says as he walks closer to Jen's desk.

"I have to" Jen says, an overwhelmed tone in her voice. "Abby is the best there is."

"If Sec-Nav finds out…"

"That won't happen. It was a closed adoption. She doesn't even know she was adopted!" Jen defends. Jethro sighs.

"She's smarter than you think…" With that he leaves the office, leaving Jen to replay the conversation they've had years ago that reflected this one.

Jen was excited about her first day on the job. Although she wished it was under better circumstances. Special Agent Caitlyn Todd had just died and she understood how hard it must be for Gibbs' team right now. Jen didn't feel any better by adding a new agent to their force although Jen knew Mossad officer Ziva David was more than qualified for the job.

Jen was surprised when she walked into NCIS. There, standing in the bullpen was her lover and former partner. Leroy Jethro Gibbs. But what surprised her was who was standing next to him. A tall, slender young woman with sleek black hair and an interesting fashion sense. Jen almost stopped dead in her tracks as she remembered her college drama from years ago.

"Director, are you alright?" Ziva asked as they got out of the elevator and noticed Jen's pale white complexion. Jen wasn't used to his new title and it took her a few seconds to snap out of it.

"I'm fine Ziva." Jen tried her hardest to play it off. And no one was the wiser. At least, that's what Jen thought.

At the end of the day, Jen stayed late to get her desk and new office in order. She was placing the files of all of her employees to the side and couldn't help but see the name of their forensic scientist. SCUTIO, ABIGAIL was in bold letters on the side. Jen picked up the full folder.

"What is it you're not telling me?" A voice said from inside her office. Jen dropped the folder to her desk and nearly leapt out of her skin as she saw Jethro standing there, she was surprised she didn't hear him.

"Nothing Jethro." Jen tries to play it off and shoves the folder back in with the other ones. Jethro places a firm hand down on the stack of folders.

"You're lying. And you always were a terrible liar." A hint of a smile appeared on Jethro's face. He expertly found the file Jen was looking at in the stack and pulled it out. "You haven't even said "hello" to our forensic scientist, yet you seem very interested in her."

"I was just looking at her file. That's all" Jen defends.

"Jen, you know that doesn't work on me." Jethro states. Jen bit her bottom lip. "What's with this interest in Abby?" He places the open file facing her.

"Remember…" Jen starts to say as her jade green eyes fall upon the matching ones in the picture of the young woman. "When we were in Paris…" Her jade orbs now follow an invisible path to ice blue ones. "And I said you hardly know anything about me?" Jethro raises one eyebrow.

"And I said you were wrong." Jethro answers her rhetorical question.

"I meant it." Again, Jen's eyes fall down to the picture. "I never thought…" Jen tries to hide the fact she's trying her hardest to fight back the floodgates of tears. "I never thought I would ever see her again." Jethro grabs the file off of Jen's desk. He knows immediately where to look. He bypasses the sections of name, date of birth, education and the etcetera to go straight to biological parents. He noticed the line said one word: Unknown. Grace and John Scutio were listed as adoptive parents/legal guardians.

"Does she know?" Jethro says only three powerful words.

"No." Jen responds, still staring down at her desk as if she doesn't realize the file she was staring at is missing.

"You don't want her to know?"

"It was a closed adoption. I didn't want her to know." Jethro closes the file and sets it atop the others.

"When Sec-Nav finds out…"

"They won't." Jen was confident they will never know.

"That's the least of your worries. She'll find out Jen. Abby is the best there is."

"Then I'll do my best to prolong that as long as I can."

Jethro looks at her; she is still staring at her desk.

"Do what you think is right Jen." And with that, Jethro walks out of her office.

There are days where Jen just wants to pick up the phone and tell Abby the truth. That will never happen. Just like those theoretical vacations, trips to the park, first days of school, boyfriends, mother-daughter bonding will never happen either. Jen wishes she could have that, the pain she feels by watching from a distance is unbearable. There are times where she'll turn on the video phone and just watch Abby work without her knowing, without anyone knowing. And that's the beauty of it.


	3. Never Noticed Before

**Ha! it's finally finished! My excuse is that my computer crashed again and I rewrote this chaper about three times until I liked it so here. I still don't own it.**

_"Who?" McGee asks with his voice as hard as nails, Abby feels her gut wrench. She knew. It had to be her. She wasn't mentioned at all in the exchange between Ducky and Gibbs. It had to be her._

"_Jenny" It escaped Ducky's lips. When her name met Abby's ears, confirming her suspicions, it was over._

Abby spun on her heel as fast as she could and bolted down to her lab. It was the only place at NCIS where she felt like she could be alone right now. She shut and locked the door to forensics, kept the music off, grabbed Bert and curled up under her desk where she cried.

She knew it wouldn't be long until someone came down, and soon she heard the light tapings on her steel door.

"Abigail…" She heard the good doctors voice from the other side. "Please let me in." Abby hesitated, clutching Bert closer. "It's only me. Abigail, please" Ducky pleaded with her. She heard the pain from his voice and stood up to open the door.

She knew she looked like a mess. Her eyeliner was in streaks down her face, she was in her knee-high socks, her boots discarded, her pigtails sagged in a way that matched her mood and she clutched Bert close to her.

"May I come in?" He asked, still being polite. Abby nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment and stepped aside to let Ducky in. He sets his hat and jacket on the evidence table. He turns and looks at her, the pain in his eyes and she hugs him hard, she let the tears flow onto his shirt and he didn't care. He let her cry.

Abby cried for what seemed like forever and they held each other in solace before her sobs became sniffles. "There was so much I didn't tell her…" Abby's voice was hoarse and cracked as the words came out.

"Like what Abigail?" Ducky held her at arms length, without her boots and in this condition; she seemed so small, so fragile.

"That I knew…" She started to say before fresh tears found their way down her cheeks. "That I knew who she was…" Abby started to sob again.

"Your mother." He filled in for her, she looked at him with a confused stupor that could not rival the sadness she felt, she slid to the floor of the lab, sobbing into her hands. Ducky knelt down. "You knew Jen was ill." He stated. Abby nods. "A brain tumor I'm afraid, she knew she was dieing and it was only a matter of time. I'm sure she would have told you." Ducky states.

"But that's not the point!" Abby was frustrated, more with herself than with Ducky. "I could've said something. I could've been the one to tell her I knew."

"I was able to get Director Sheppard's X-ray and she volunteered her blood samples I gave to you in order to test." Ducky continues with his story.

"And you marked them "John Doe"." Abby fills in. Ducky smiles a little. Abby looks up at Ducky, a slight smile approaches his features. "But I ran a DNA test Ducky!" Abby bit her bottom lip because she believed there were no more tears left to shed. "And I got a match, and another similar one."

"You saw who the DNA belonged too." He fills in. "And the similar one?" He asks, knowing the answer.

"Mine, that Gibbs made me put on the system since Mikel tried to kill me" Abby says. "I couldn't believe it, I mean, I always wondered why both of my parents were born deaf and I wasn't…but I didn't know…"She trailed off, letting go another sob, she collected her composure long enough to finish her story. "I did some research on medical records and came across my birth certificate. There it had written: biological mother, Jennifer Sheppard. I knew it was her. I knew it." Abby broke down anew and Ducky cradled her head in his lap as she sprawled out on the floor of the lab.

"I see." He nods in understanding and strokes her raven locks, twisting his finger in her ponytail and watching it uncurl.

"You knew?" She choked out between sobs.

"Yes." Ducky nods. "She told me after I had diagnosed her with the tumor. She was heartbroken to know that after all of these years she ends up working so close to you and never having the strength to tell you."

"But she was strong Ducky…" Abby interrupts, her voice still wavering.

"That's how she would want to be remembered." Ducky smiles and continues stroking her hair.

"Did she tell…?" Abby started to ask but her voice betrayed her and she was racked with another sobbing fit. Ducky understood her question.

"She told Gibbs awhile ago I do believe." Ducky states. "Which was why I would rather him tell you than I about her passing." Ducky lifts her chin up. "Which was why I bartered for him to break the news to you. But circumstances have decided otherwise." He looks into her turmoil-mixed, naïve and free-spirited green eyes. She stares back into his secure, wise, and comforting brown ones.

"I should've told her Ducky. I wanted to tell her…" Abby sobs into his shirt. Ducky just cradles her head and rocks back and forth on the floor. They remain like that for what feels like eternity before Abby's sobs fade into sniffles.

"Up now." Ducky shifts position and Abby slowly rises to a standing position, she helps Ducky up. With her platform boots abandoned she seemed much shorter to him. "The Director wouldn't want us moping about in her absence. We have a case to solve my dear" Ducky smiles, grabbing his hat and coat from off of the steel table they were crouched by. Abby sniffles.

"Thanks Duck-man." She says, her voice hoarse and cracked.

"Anytime Abigail." Ducky hugs her; she hugs him back, a hug of reassurance that she is not alone. "If you need anything just let me know." He smiles after the hug broke.

"I will." Abby states, wiping the mascara off of her cheeks with her sleeve. Ducky heads for the door before he turns around.

"I will send Timothy down as well." He says as more of a statement than a inquiry. She nods and the good doctor disappears down the hallway and into the elevator.

Abby turns around to her computer. She goes through her files and finds a picture from the annual staff picnic from last year. It was of her and the director, sitting there on the lawn oblivious to the picture-taker. (Though Abby was sure it was Tony who took the snapshot). They were in the midst of a conversation that had them laughing. Abby stares at the picture through tear-blurred eyes she saw something on Jen's expression. Something she had never noticed before when looking at the picture. It looked a lot like

Motherly Instinct.


End file.
